My husband and I evacuated to Alexandria LA after Hurricane Katrina. We stayed with a cousin and attended Mass at her church the Sunday following Katrina. After the Mass, a man came up to my husband and told him how sorry the congregation was for all of New Orleans and handed him a fistful of bills. My husband was so overwhelmed that he started crying. The man then hugged my husband and walked off afterwards. We were so touched by this! The next day, I went to work at the Office of Family Support in Alexandria to help with the disaster food stamp assistance. Within a few days of my working there, one of my new coworkers came to my desk with a bag full of clothes in my size and a pair of nearly new Reebok tennis shoes. I had never even owned a pair of Reeboks. Again, I was overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness of a stranger. It was actions like these that made us feel welcome in Alexandria after Hurricane Katrina hit.
Mary Ann Phillips
Metairie LA

In the Bible, John tells a story about a woman who was caught in adultery and the scribes and Pharisees wanted her to be stoned to death. Jesus said "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." At that point, all of the elders walked away, one by one and Jesus said to the woman "Woman, where are they now? Has no one condemned you?" and she said "No one, sir" to which he responded "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."
In regards to Oliver Thomas, shouldn't we act like Jesus did?